Darkness and Light
by ntlpurpolia
Summary: An angsty sort of drabble with a happy ending. Reynico, set during the quest to deliver the statue of Athena. Canon divergence-ish. For YungHomer.


**Nico**

The days and nights blur together now, after days of being on the road interspersed with the ever-exhausting shadow-traveling. He doesn't like it, not one bit. Not just because there's a hopeless feeling that they won't beat the odds, might die by the paws slash claws slash talons of one monster or another, but the feeling of being surrounded by _people_ even if it's just two, Reyna and Coach Hodge, is terrifying. He feels like an animal at a petting zoo, always ready to be judged, stared at, mocked.

It's not till the first time that she says _i'll lend you my strength_ that he starts to- not thaw, it's too small, yet too huge, to be a _thaw_ but a tiny pin-spot of light into the nonstop shadows of his life.

~xoXox~

 **Reyna**

She doesn't know what to make of him. Being a praetor meant you had to know and trust the people you were working with, your comrades. Reyna trusts the satyr more than she trusts any faun, but Nico? He's a mystery, a challenge, a knot of darkness waiting to be unraveled. She just doesn't think she''ll like what she finds.

But then, she rarely does.

(she'll be surprised later)

~xoXox~

 **Nico**

They have more in common than he thought they did. He doesn't know what to make of that, of anything about her. She is strong, and unwilling to let anyone close, that much he senses, but too light for him, he who is all dark.

But then, darkness and light were more similar than most people thought, both of them blinding and overwhelming all at once.

(and that's why he can't let himself get too close)

~xoXox~

 **Reyna**

He is not weak though she lent him her strength, no on the contrary he is stronger by far than she could imagine. His sister dead, rejected by everyone he's tried to fit in with. She can sympathize barely since her sister left her too ... But at least Hylla was alive.

Reyna can't possibly pity him, no. She admires his strength having gone through ordeals beyond even the average demigod.

(is admiration all there is to it?)

~xoXox~

 **Nico**

Her strength makes her beautiful pops into his head none day and refuses to leave. It plagues his mind with thoughts of her, though Reyna could hardly be compared to a terrible, infectious disease, it's a plague if only because she'll never feel the same way.

She's easy to talk to, serious and no-frills and pragmatic, the opposite of Percy Jackson, but there were little flickers of laughter in her sometimes, humour she kept bottled up and only let those close to her see.

(is he close enough?)

~xoXox~

 **Reyna**

the mission is over, the statue returned, the two of them separated, yet Reyna cannot stop thinking about him. There's nothing special about him, nothing that might draw the eye, but he is strong, and a good listener, and doesn't look at her like he doesn't know how to get close to her or want to. She can sit with him without needing to fill awkward silence, and fight monsters with him, and she was sad to see him go.

The thing is, she doesn't know what to do with these feelings when the last person she liked didn't return them.

(but nico isn't jason, can't possibly be jason)

~xoXox~

 **Nico**

He comes back to Camp Jupiter to visit Hazel but won't admit to himself that it's really to see Reyna.

He eats and drinks and ignores dirty looks from the campers, and is feeding Arion chunks of gold that Hazel gave him when she appears, in a purple shirt and jeans, the purple bringing out gold flecks in her eyes and a streak of gold highlighted in her dark hair. She is wearing gold earrings, too, studs -at least, that's what he thinks they are- and she never wears jewelry. He won't kid himself though, because she can't possibly have known he was coming when he's only been here for half a day, he wants to think, even though that would be underestimating her. And underestimating Reyna is never a good idea.

Conflict wars inside him.

(is he right, is he wrong, what does he want to be?)

~xoXox~

 **Reyna**

Seeing him again is different, maybe because he isn't wearing a tropical shirt printed with palm leaves and parrots, but this kind of different isn't bad. Isn't bad, except it knocks the wind out of her, almost, him with his dark hair and dark eyes and dark shirt, all contrasting against the paleness of his skin - was he tanner?- and she touches a gold post in her ear, wonders if it was a good idea or just trying too hard.

(but will he notice, will he _care_?)

~xoXox~

 **Nico**

"So... do you want to talk, or something?" He doesn't want her to want to talk.

(he wants her to do other things that also involve lips)

~xoXox~

 **Reyna**

She doesn't want to talk either. "Talking is overrated."

(a step closer- is it the right choice?)

~xoXox~

 **Nico**

She has him questioning every move, every word, but all of the questions disappear when her lips touch his.

 _Fin._

 **Both**

And in the end, they were enough for each other.


End file.
